Abridged History of the 10th Age

Hearthland

The center of the empire, the breadbasket, and the largest open plain in the kingdom, the Hearthland is where a full third of Thyrnessan food is grown. This lowland farming plain surrounds the city of Miles where the royal court resides. The bounds of the Hearthland are the great Fork-Tongue river on the east, Rotwood and the Drowned Fens to the north, the Gold Hook region to the west and the Noranian forest to the south.

The hills of the Hearthland planes are gentle, and from the Milean hill one can see all the way to the southern sea. The Hearthland is administered by the royal house either directly in some cases, or indirectly through the regnal noble houses that serve the Ardon Ry. For this reason it is sometimes called Ryland.

There is no region as peaceful in all the north as the hearthland; the Knights of Miles tirelessly strive to keep the grain supply protected, and the great granaries of the city of Miles have not been empty in nearly a century. Banditry in the hearthland is punished with harsh and swift justice – however, that is not to say that bandits do not take refuge in the Noranian Forest, the Rotwood, or the Drowned Fens. However, unlike other portions of the empire there are no orcs, goblins, or kobolds lurking free behind the borders of the hearthland so fierce is the emperor’s justice upon those who sully the central lowlands of the empire. Yet, there are secret warrens scattered throughout the border regions, and they ever present a foe for the Knights of Miles.

The hearthland was also the seat of an ancient gigantine kingdom, long since vanished. Even in the days when the Mileans were first settling the lowlands the giants there were already entering a state of advanced decay; the Elsoín shared the land with them for many centuries as they vanished, though sometimes came into conflict with them as well. In the end, all the giants of Miles left behind was a legacy of white stone ruins, which can be found all over the Avarine lowland, but even more so in the hearthland. Some of these have been the haunts of evil beasts over the centuries but it is unlikely that any now hold any terror.